Device for painting areas which terminate in sharply defined edges



Sept. 17, 1968 F. DECK ET Al. 3,401,418

DEVICE FOR PAINTING AREAS WHICH TERMINATE v IN SHAHPLY DEFINED EDGESFiled June 2l, 1966 FRITZ DECK MORBRT KE/H AA www United States Patent Os claims. (ci. -166) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A flat paint brushcarried by a sleeve slidably mounted on an elongated handle. A guideplate is situated closely adjacent the side face of the fiat 'brush andis pivotal for turning movement relative to the carrier sleeve about anaxis perpendicular to the plane of the guide plate. A spring yieldablymaintains the plate in a rest position wherein its guide edge extendsperpendicularly to the handle, and returns it to the rest position afterthe plate has been turned. A second spring in the hollow handle acts onthe carrier sleeve for displacing it with respect tothe handle to a restposition wherein the guide plate extends beyond the paint-applying endof the fiat'brush.

The present invention' relates to painting.

painting, by means of a paint brush, areas which terminate in sharplydefined edges.

In carrying out various painting jobs, numerous objects are encountered,such as, for example, in the case of painting window frames, where it isnecessary to paint an area which terminates in a sharply defined edge.In the case of a window frame, for example, it is conventional .to paintthe frame with the pane of glass carried thereby, so that anarea whichterminates in a sharplyrdefined edge at the boundary between theframeand the glass must be painted. In general, it is conventional to paintsuch areas in ,a freehand manner with a suitable paint` brush. Inasmuchas it is impossible to avoid certain irregularities in the painted areasunderthese conditions, it is in most cases essential to carry outsubsequent operations, after. the

painting has been carried out,so that, for example, the

In order to maintain the subsequent wiping `orscraping operations, whichare relatively expensive, .at a minimum, it is known when painting theedges of a given area to apply, lby hand, to the area which is not tobepainted a device such as a suitable spatula which is progressivelyheld along the edge so as to cover the portion not to be painted whiledefining the edge of the area which is to be painted. When working inthis manner, it is necessary to take into consideration the disadvantageof requiring the spatula to be frequently cleaned after painting ofrelatively short distances, so that the painting operations areconsiderably delayed with this type of protection for the lunlpaintedarea. It is also known to provide sharply defined edges for paintedareas by applying along the border of*v the area which is to be paintedsuitably masking in the form of paper or self-adhesive strips, madeeither of paper or plastic sheet material or the like. In this case,however,

the cost of the masking material lmust be taken into consideration,quite aside from the fact that additional costs ice Thus, these knownoperating methods are in part unsatisfactory and in part tied up withconsiderable expense, both with respect to time and cost, so that thereis a need fora device which without any particular cost, either in timeor money, makes it possible to paint areas which terminate in .sharplydefined edges. f

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to fill thisla-tter need.

Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a relatively simpledevice whch will enable a paint brush to lbe manipulated in such a waythat it will produce -a sharply defined edge for a painted area. Y v llFurthermore, it is an objectof the present invention to provide adevice of this type which makes it quite.

simple to load the paint brush with a supply of paint.

In addiLion, it is an object of the present invention to provide adevice which, while reliably preventing the paint brush from havingaccess to an undesired area, willA at the same time permit the paintbrush to apply paint freely to the area which is required to .be paintedall the way up to a predetermined edge.

Moreover, it is an object of the invention to .provide a device of thistype which enables the paint brush to be tilted in any desired directionwhile maintaining the Sharply defined edge for the pain-ted area.

Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide adevice of this type `which enables restricted areas, such as corners, tobe very easily painted.

The objects of the present invention also include a device of this typewhich permits the brush to be very easily manipulated not only duringthe painting operations but also during loading of the brush with afresh supply of paint, in such a way that, for example, only one hand ofthe operator is required for the operations so that the other hand ofthe operator is free for other purposes.

Also, the objects of the invention include -the provision of a device ofthis type which enables not only the paint brush but also a guidetherefor to be easily replaced so that the paint brush and the guide canbe separated from the devi-ce for easy cleaning as well as forexchanging with other guides and paint brushes as, for example, whenchanging from one paint color to another paint color.

Among the objects of the present invention is also included theprovision of a device which can be very easily protected againstbecoming itself undesirably covered with paint.

Also, it is an object of the invention to provide a device of the abovetype which can be manufactured from readily available material, such asany suitable metals or plastics.

In accordance with the invention, the device includes a relatively fiatpaint brush having a substantially fiat side face and terminating in afree, paint-applying end portion where the bristles of the brush aresituated. An elongated hollow handle means is connected with the paintbrush so --as to carry the latter, arid a carrier means is supported bythe handle means for longitudinal shifting movement with respectthereto. A guide plate is situated in a plane parallel tothesubstantially flat side face of the paint brush, closely adjacent to thelatter side face in the region of the free end portion of the paintbrush where the bristles thereof are located, and the area of this guideplate is greater than that of the free end portion of the paint brush,the

guide plate terminating in an elongated guide edge. A pivot means mountsthe guide plate on the carrier means for pivotal movement with respectthereto about an axis which extends perpendicularly with respect to theplane in which the guide plate is located, and a first spring means isoperatively connected to the guide plate to yieldably maintain thelatter in a predetermined rest position where its guide edge extendsperpendicularly with respect to the elongated handle means, so that whenthe guide plate is tilted from its rest position it will automaticallybe returned back to this rest position by this first spring means. Asecond spring means is situated within the elongated hollow handle meansand acts on the carrier means to urge the latter to a predetermined restposition where the guide plate extends in all directions outwardlybeyond the free, paint-applying end portion of the paint brush.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. l shows one possible embodiment of a device according to thepresent invention, in a partly sectional side elevation;

FIG. 2 shows in elevation a guide-plate holder, together with a guideplate, after this subassembly has been removed from the remainder of thedevice; and

FIG. 3 shows in elevation the paint brush itself after it has beenremoved from the rest of the assembly.

Referring now to FIG. l, the device of the invention, which isillustrated therein, includes an elongated hollow handle means 1 whichhas a lower closed end 2. This elongated hollow handle means 1 is in theform of an elongated metal or plastic tube which is provided with itsbottom closed end 2 either by swaging, or by simply clamping togetherand soldering the wall portions of the hollow tube 1 at the region ofits bottom end. The bottom end may be welded, for example, so as tobecome closed in the manner shown in the lower part of FIG. l. While theelongated hollow handle means 1 can have a cross section of anyconguration, in the illustrated example it has a simple circular crosssection.

A carrier means is mounted on the elongated handle means 1 forlongitudinal shifting movement with respect l.

thereto, and this carrier means includes an elongated sleeve 3 throughwhich the elongated handle means 1 slidably extends. A spring means issituated in the interior of the elongated hollow handle means 1 to urgethe carrier means to the illustrated rest position where the sleeve 3 isin the region of the upper end of the handle 1, as viewed in FIG. 1. Inthe illustrated example, this spring means takes the form of anelongated coil spring 4 which is under compression within the hollowinterior of the handle 1, the bottom end of the spring 4 engaging theclosed lower end 2 of the handle 1 while the upper end of the spring 4engages a cross pin 5 which is carried by the sleeve 3 in the region ofthe lower end thereof.

This cross pin 5 forms part of the carrier means and is situated at itsopposite ends in a pair of aligned openings formed in the sleeve 3. Inorder to guide the sleeve 3 and the cross pin 5, this cross pin extendsthrough a pair of longitudinally extending slots 6 which are formed inthe elongated hollow handle 1, these slots 6 being coextensive andsituated at diametrically opposed parts of the tube l, so that in thisway the cross pin 5 extends through the slots 6 into the openings of thesleeve 3 which carry the cross pin S. Thus, the spring 4, due to itscornpression, will urge the sleeve 3 to the position illustrated in FIG.1 Where the pin 5 engages the upper ends of the slots 6, and in this waythe rest position of the carrier means is determined. The slots 6 eachhave a length which is approximately the same as the length of thesleeve 3, and the lower ends of the slots 6 cooperate with the pin 5 tolimit the extent of shifting movement of the carrier means with respectto the handle means 1.

A protective member 7 is carried by the handle means 1 for protectingthe sleeve 3 against paint, and for this purpose the protective memberis iixed at its bottom end to the handle 1, as by being welded thereto.This protective member 7 takes the form of an elongated tubular memberhaving an upper open end surrounding the handle 1 and forming with thelatter an annular gap through which the sleeve 3 can freely pass intothe interior of the protective member 7. This protective member 7 issituated in the region of the 'handle means 1 along which the sleeve 3shifts, so as to protect the latter.

A relatively flat paint brush 3 is inserted into the upper open end ofthe elongated handle means 1, which thus becomes connected to the -paintbrush 8 so as to for-m a handle `for the latter. The bristles of thepaint brush 8 form for the latter a free, paint-applying end portion,and this paint brush 8 has a substantially flat side face, as isparticularly apparent from FIGS. l and 3. The paint brush includes aflat holder 9 which carries the bristles of the brush, and this holder 9is connected to one end of an elongated channel member 10 which isreceived in the upper open end portion o-f the elongated handle 1. Thiselongated channel member 10, which is xed to and extends from the atholder 9 of the brush bristles, has at least two pairs of curvedprojections 11 extending from opposed side edges of the channel member10 so as to form with lthe latter a pair of tubular portions which a-recapable of sliding into and frictionally engaging the inner surface ofthe handle 1 with a force of friction suicient to retain the brush inthe position illustrated in FIG. 1 while at the same time permitting theready removal of the brush whenever desired. The exterior surface of thechannel member 10 together with the projections 11, at the tubularportions where the projections 11 are located, has a diameter equal tothe inner `diameter of the tube 1. Therefore, at any time the brush canbe pushed into the handle 1 so as to be reliably held thereby, while atthe same time permitting the brush to be separated from the handle 1whenever desired.

The device further includes an exchangeable, flat guide plate 12 whichis carried by the carrier means, this carrier means including sleeve 3and the cross pin 5, as pointed out above. The carrier means furtherincludes a 'holder 13 which carries `a pivot means which pivotallysupports the guide plate 12. This guide plate 12 has an approximatelysemi-circular configuration, as is apparent from FIG. 2, althoughinstead of taking the configuration of a bali-circle, it may also takethe coniiguration of halfoval. The pivot means which supports the plate12 on fthe carrier means is formed by a simple pivot pin 14 whichturnably carries the guide plate 12 and which is itself fxedly carriedby the holder 13, which forms part of the carrier means of theinvention.

As is apparent from FIG. 1, the guide plate 12 is situated in a planewhich is parallel to the plane of the substantially at side face of thebrush 8, closely adjacent to this latter plane. Furthermore, the guideplate 12 has a straight .guide edge 21 and in addition has an area whichis substantially greater than the tree, paint-applying end portion ofthe brush 8. Thus, the pivot means 14 supports the guide plate 12 forturning movement about an axis which is perpendicular to the plane inwhich the guide plate 12 is located as 'well as the plane in which thesuhstantially flat side face of the brush is located.

A spring means 15 is operatively connected with the guide plate 12 so4as to maintain the latter yielda-hly in a predetermined rest position,and in this rest position the guide edge 21 extends perpendicularly withrespect to the elongated handle means 1. rPhe spring means always seeksto return the guide plate 12 to an intermediate rest position from whichthe guide plate 12 can be turned, by way of the pivot means 14, ineither direction. The holder 13 of the carrier means carries the springmeans 15 which takes the form of an elongated coil spring which is undertension and which is connected at one end to the plate 12. In the restposition of the guide plate 12, to which it is urged by the spring means15, this guide plate extends in `all directions outwardly beyond thefree, paint-applying end portion of the brush 8.

The holder 13 of the carrier means is in the form of a one-piece memberhaving a plate portion 16 to which the pivot pin 14 is ixedly connected,and this plate portion 16 extends from a side edge of a substantiallytroughshaped portion 17 of the holder 13, the spring 15 being situatedIwithin the trough-shaped portion 17.

As pointed out above, the spring is connected at one end to the guideplate 12, and the other end of the spring 15 is connected to a side ofthe trough-shaped portion 17 which is distant from the plate -portion 16of the holder 13. The side of the trough-shaped portion 17 to Which thespring 15 is 'connected 'is also connected with a pair ofcurved claws 18which extend around and frictionally engage the sleeve 3 of the carriermeans so as to form part of the-carrier means therewith. In this casealso, the frictional engagement of the claw members 18 with the sleeve13 is suliicient to retain the parts reliably inthe assembled conditionshown in FIG. 1, fwhile at the same time-permitting the holder 13 to -beremoved so as to form a unit separate from the rest of the assembly, asindicated in FIG. 2.

'Ihe holder 13 is provided with a laterally extending actuating lu-g 19,this lug extending rearwandly `away from the brush, for example, and byengaging the actuating lug 19 it is a simple matter to move the hol-der13 as well as to support it at the edge of a paint 1can when it isdesired to dip the brush into the paint, for example. In order toprotect the spring 15 it is loosely surrounded by a protective tube 20made, for example, of a suitable plastic, so that in this way the spring15 will not become soiled.

It is possible to shift the entire carrier means 3, 13 in opposition tothe spring 4 to such an extent that the guide plate 12 is situatedbeyond the region of the free end portion of the brush 8, so that, forexample, the guide edge 21 becomes situated at the region of the holder9 which carries the bristles of the brush. With the parts in thisposition it is a simple matter to dip the brush bristles into the paint.The same results can be achieved when the actuating lug 19 is placedagainst the edge of a paint container, and with the parts directeddownwardly, which is to say in a position inverted from that shown inFIG. 1, the handle 1 is pushed down, so that in this way the brush islowered beyond the edge 21 to dip into the paint, assuming that there issufiicient paint in the container for this purpose.

In order to use the device of the invention, the guide edge of the guideplate 12 is placed along the boundary edge between the area which is tobe painted and the area which is not to be painted, and at the same timethe brush 8 is pressed against the area which is to be painted. Duringthis operation the guide plate 12 is pressed back in opposition to thespring 4 to an extent suiiicient to place the bristles of the brush 8 inengagement with the surface which is to be painted so as to apply paintthereto.

The device of the invention can be made of any suitable, relativelyrigid sheet material, such as metal and/or plastic. This appliesparticularly to the handle 1, the protective member 7, the carrier meansformed by the sleeve 3 and the holder 13 for the guide plate 12, and ofcourse for the guide plate 12 itself.

Because of the pivotal mounting provided by way of the pivot means 14for the guide plate 21, it is possible for the operator to tilt thebrush 8 while applying the latter to the area which is to be painted. Inorder to bring the brush into engagement with the `area which is to bepainted, it is only necessary to push on the handle 1 in opposition tothe spring 4. The guide plate 12 will of course prevent the brush fromhaving access to that area which is not to be painted. Itis onlynecessary to hold the edge 21 along the boundary between the areas whichare to be painted and which are not to be painted. Under theseconditions it is possible for the operator to tilt the brush in anyrequired direction as a result of the pivotal mounting derived by way ofthe pivot means 14. Thus, the brush can be actuated in a conventionalmanner.

As a result of the substantially semi-circular or halfoval configurationof the guide plate 12 it is possible to provide, in an extremelyconvenient, faultless manner, sharply delined edges for an area which isto be painted in the region of a corner where operations of this typewould normally be relatively diflicult to carry out.

The actuating lug 19 of course greatly facilitates loading thebrush'with a fresh supply of paint, as pointed out above. It is to benoted in this connection that the operat'or need only apply the lug 19at an edge of the paint can and depress the handle 1, so that only onehand is required for this purpose, thus freeing the other hand of theoperator for other operations.

As was pointed out above, not only the brush but also the holder 13 are`easily removable from the assembly so that it is a simple matter toclean both of these units as well as to exchange them for other units,as when changing over from one paint color to another paint color.

The protective member 7 will of course protect the handle 1 from beingcovered with paint, particularly at the area along which the sleeve 3 ofthe carrier means slides. In the same way the protective member 20protects the spring 15. The members 7 and 20 may be made of sheet metalor plastic.

When the holder 13 is removed, so as to have the condition shown in FIG.2, it is a simple matter to clean the plate 12 or to replace the entireunit shown in FIG. 2 with another unit. Also, when the brush 8 isremoved, so as to have the condition shown in FIG. 3, the brush can beeasily cleaned and replaced by another brush having the constructionshown in FIG. 3.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for painting areas which terminate in sharply defined edges,comprising a relatively flat paint brush having a substantially at sideface and having a paintapplying free end portion, elongated hollowhandle means connected with and extending from said paint brush so as tosupport the latter, carrier means including an elongated sleevesupported by said elongated handle means for longitudinal slidingmovement along said handle means and carrying a cross pin which extendsthrough, and is carried by, said sleeve, said elongated hollow handlemeans being formed with longitudinal slots through which said cross pinextends, a guide plate situated closely adjacent to but spaced from saidsubstantially at side face of said brush in a plane parallel to saidside face, said guide plate terminating in a free elongated guide edgesituated in the region of said free end portion of said brush, `and saidguide plate having an area greater than that of said side face of saidbrush, pivot means connecting said guide plate to said carrier means forturning movement relative thereto about an axis perpendicular to saidplane in which said guide plate is situated, first spring meansoperatively connected with said plate for yieldably maintaining thel-atter in a rest position where said guide edge thereof extendsperpendicularly with respect to said elongated handle means, said firstspring means, after said plate is turned with respect to said carriermeans from said rest position, automatically returning said guide plateto said rest position, and second spring means including an elongatedspring situated in said elongated hollow handle means and said cross pinengaging one end of said elongated spring in the interior of saidelongated handle means, said slots of said handle means terminating inends which cooperate with said cross pin to limit the movement of saidsleeve of said carrier means with respect to said elongated hollowhandle means to act on said carrier means for displacing the latter withrespect to said handle means to a rest position where said guide plateextends in all directions beyond said free paint-applying end portion ofsaid brush.

2. A device as recited in claim 1 and wherein said brush includes a atbristle holder and an elongated channel member fixed at one end to saidholder and extending from the latter into the interior of said handlemeans, said channel member having at least two pairs of lugs extendingfrom opposed side edges of said channel member and forming with saidchannel member a pair of tubular portions received in and engaging saidelongated hollow handle means for connecting said brush thereto.

3. A device as recited in claim 1 and wherein said carrier meansincludes an elongated sleeve through which said hollow handle meansslidably extends so that said sleeve is shiftable along said handlemeans, and a holder carrying said pivot means so as to support saidguide plate, said holder being carried by and extending from said sleeveand having a laterally projecting actuating lug which may be acted uponto provide movement of said carrier means and handle means, one withrespect to the other.

4. A device as recited in claim 3 and wherein said holder of saidcarrier means is made of a one-piece member having a plate portioncarrying said pivot means and an elongated trough-shaped portionterminating in a yside edge from which the said plate portion of saidholder extends, said rst spring means being situated in saidtroughshaped portion and being in the form of an elongated tensionspring connected at one end to said guide plate and at an opposite endto a side of said trough-.shaped portion distant from said plate portionof said holder of said carrier means, said holder having curved clawmembers extending 'at least part way around and engaging said sleeve forconnecting said holder thereto.

5. A device as recited in claim 4 and wherein a protective tube looselysurrounds said first spring means.

6. A device as recited in claim 1 and wherein said guide plate has anapproximately semi-circular conguration.`

7. A device as recited in claim 1 -and wherein said carrier meansincludes an elongated sleeve .surrounding said elongated handle meansand longitudinally shiftable along said handle means, and an outerprotective member carried by said handle means in that region thereofalong which said sleeve in shiftable, said sleeve being situated betweensaid protective member and said handle-means so as to be protected bysaid protective member.

8. A device as recited in claim 7 and wherein said elongated handlemeans, said protective member carried thereby, said carrier means, andsaid guide plate are all made of a substantially rigid sheet material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 782,530 2/1905 Swanson 15-2481,882,535 10/1932 Weber 15-166 CHARLES A. WILLMUTH, Primary Examiner.

LEON G. MACHLIN, Assistant Examiner.

